<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>this unlikely union by NikitaHawkeye</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25549747">this unlikely union</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikitaHawkeye/pseuds/NikitaHawkeye'>NikitaHawkeye</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Psycho-Pass</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, First Inspector spoilers, ficlets?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:48:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>964</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25549747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikitaHawkeye/pseuds/NikitaHawkeye</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>... and why it still stands.</p>
<p>(or, tsunemori and kougami, in epochs)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kougami Shinya/Tsunemori Akane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>this unlikely union</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>(prompts taken from 31_days’ september 2007 theme set in livejournal)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>i. the words you’ve borrowed</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>
  <em>“the next time we meet, you’ll be in a position to judge me.”</em>
</p>
<p>but he was the one standing outside her prison cell years later, the complete opposite of how he envisioned them to reunite many, many nights ago.</p>
<p>he thought he was over his death wish, but strangely enough he liked his version better: akane, with a resolute look on her face, and him, once again on the receiving end of her dominator, only this time it was set on lethal mode.</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>ii. you illustrate the sun’s true candor</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>“will you always be a detective?”</p>
<p>he wondered if she knew how much her face reflected the wishful thinking in that statement <em>(no, he corrected himself, not a wish, a prayer to the heavens—) </em>and summoned all the will he had left just to lie and say one word: “yes.”</p>
<p>it’s the last time, he promised himself as he closed his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>iii. i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p><em>“i am never without it,”</em> he read with his constricting throat, deeply aware of the collective gaze on his wilting form, <em>“anywhere i go, you go, my dear, and—”</em></p>
<p>“…sir?”</p>
<p>kougami let out a small cough, his mind already banishing traitorous thoughts of trusting smiles and too-eager eyes and promises written on water that momentarily plagued his senses. he pointed at a random student, then called his name with a rasp in his voice. “why don’t you continue reading, for a change?”</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>iv. the great bewildering city that you live in</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>trouble came in a shower of bullets and a flurry of fists the moment he set foot on foreign soil, and kougami thought he was doing well in surviving… right before the first explosion rocked the ground and the first syllable of her name was automatically on the tip of his tongue, his eyes frantically sought for a small hunched figure, until he realized, for the first time since he defected, that he was truly <em>alone</em>.</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>v. you’re the miss that misses</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>she handed him a pack in cambodia. he smelled it in her clothes too, so it was logical to assume then, that she unfortunately picked up on his terrible habit.</p>
<p>that was three years ago, but kougami remembers the small things, so he offered her one in their drive on the way to her apartment from tokorazawa, which she promptly declined.</p>
<p>“you stopped?”</p>
<p>“i never really started.”</p>
<p>it took him a few minutes to put two and two together. when he was done, he decided that there was only one way to test his hypothesis.</p>
<p>he reached out for her jaw, then closed the gap between their mouths.</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>vi. used to your streets</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>the selfish part of him begged to tell her how perfect she looked with the stars above her head and the rustic roads stretched below her dangled hands, but the hound in him reminded that he needed to get her out of here soon, before chaos erupts, and right before she stays long enough to make it harder to say goodbye.</p>
<p>the hound won, as usual.</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>vii. you look a little bit older, a little bit colder</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>“we had a deal, tsunemori—”</p>
<p>“that deal was off the moment your subject ran over seven men and four children in chiyoda, hanashiro-san.”</p>
<p>“he’s under the protection of the ministry of foreign affairs.”</p>
<p>“i don’t see how that’s my problem. good day, hanashiro-san, gentlemen.”</p>
<p>tsunemori drove away without looking back, and kougami had to turn away to hide his incredulous smirk from his boss.</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>viii. dovetailed solution of your heart</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>“are you <em>actually</em> avoiding me?”</p>
<p>at first, kougami chalked it up to their busy schedules. they’re both always on the move, so it would make sense if they rarely find time for each other.</p>
<p>but she has not been answering his calls for several weeks now. he knew from hanashiro that there are currently no major cases in the MWPSB, and the guilty look on akane’s downcast eyes only served to confirm his suspicions.</p>
<p>he’s painfully aware that he had no right to demand explanation from her like this, not when he himself refused to face the fact that sometime between shamballa and her release, <em>something</em> has shifted between them. <em>and yet.</em></p>
<p>“what’s going on, akane?”</p>
<p>her mouth hardened into a thin line, and kougami thought of her careless laughter that rang around the ramen stall he took her to when he fetched her from the correction center. the memory strangely felt like a lifetime ago.</p>
<p>“trust me, kougami-san,” she said almost coldly, the sudden return to formality making his stomach churn, “this is for the best.”</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>ix. you’re the model of a charmless man</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>he watched in amusement at her futile attempt to reach for the latch of the window, and then chuckled as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face while she half-tiptoed, half-jumped as a last resort to get the job done.</p>
<p>with a sigh, he walked up to her, then opened the window with an effortless flicker of his wrist. he turned to her, and was surprised with the offended look on her face.</p>
<p>“what? it’s not my fault you’re so… short.”</p>
<p>she gasped. “that’s… that’s so rude, kougami-san. no wonder kagari-san gets all the ladies.”</p>
<p>kougami had to snort at that. he crouched below the open window, then held out both palms above his right knee, a silent offer for a boost.</p>
<p>“after you, inspector tsunemori.”</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>
      <b>x. to me, my fair friend, you can never be old</b>
    </p>
  </div>
</blockquote><p>“you’re a long way from dejima, kougami-san.”</p>
<p>“yeah, so get dressed.”</p>
<p>“…huh?”</p>
<p>“you’re on forced leave, by the way.”</p>
<p>“i don’t understand…?”</p>
<p>“you’re not planning to spend your birthday in front of a dead body, are you?”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>